The Wandering Koi

Time to get going

After a decade of planning and saving points, several years of coordinating logistics with employers, and a year of making reservations and flights (as well as a flurry of activity over the past month to pack our household belongings and finish job-related tasks, insurance arrangements, taxes, etc.)…. we’re standing on a train platform on a humid late-summer evening. Characteristically, we arrived early and awaited the train with nervous energy. Down a side street by the river, the platform sits by itself in the night, a small brick edifice enclosing a couple of benches.

A spider was building a new web on a lamp post. Mayflies and mosquitoes wandered by. No one else was there. No other patrons. No station attendant. No Amtrak personnel. Just a the three travelers and family who drove us to the station.

A few minutes before scheduled departure time, the rumble of steel wheels and some distant lights quieted the insects and few birds. The sharp whine of brakes and the distinctive stench of diesel exhaust enveloped the night as the shining coach cars slid to a halt at the station. A few last hugs and goodbyes to family as the conductor steps from the car, glaring down at papers in his hand. “How many in your party? No, I don’t want to see your tickets… There’s only the three of you getting on here. All aboard! ”

By the time we get to our seats and stow luggage, the train is moving and the station, with loved ones back in their vehicle, is slipping out of view. The reality of life on the road (and the adventures it will bring) has arrived.